The Phoenix banquet at The Saturday Club was filled with giggles and applause on August 17. The reason? Jhaal Farezi, an evening of theatre, music and dance, held in association with t2, with the highlight being three comedy skits, directed by Renu Roy and performed by club members.
Text: Urvashi Bhattacharya, Pictures: Rashbehari Das
Published 28.08.18, 06:30 PM
ALL FOR A LOAN: The show started off with this skit featuring Renu Roy (centre), who played an eccentric old lady, her son Keshav Roy (right) playing a bank manager and Gautam Bhalla (left) as the manager’s assistant. The old woman wants a loan and she is aggressive about it. She complains about her problems and tries to convince the manager of her need for cash. But the catch — she doesn’t have an account in the bank. After a lot of arguments, the furious bank manager calls for his assistant, who turns out to be hopeless.
The Phoenix banquet at The Saturday Club was filled with giggles and applause on August 17. The reason? Jhaal Farezi, an evening of theatre, music and dance, held in association with t2, with the highlight being three comedy skits, directed by Renu Roy and performed by club members.
RESTAURANT RUCKUS: A couple — played by Kamaljit Singh (left) and Bilquis Hassan — were out for a romantic dinner, where they were waited by the head steward Bonku Bikari Pyne (played by Keshav Roy) and his silly assistant Venkat, played by Gautam Bhalla. Bonku goes out of his way to impress the guests, with his Bengali-accented English and mispronounced words. He loses his cool when the guests point out a dirty glass on their table. Making a huge issue of it, both Bonku and Venkat make an exit to catch the metro, forgetting the couple’s order!
“I wrote all the skits and we were delighted to have a full house. It was meant to be a comic theatre — a short dramatic enactment,” said Renu Roy.
DOUBLE TROUBLE: The second skit depicted a typical day in a married couple’s life — featuring Simi Suri as Pinky and Gautam Bhalla as her husband. Pinky complains about how her husband does nothing for her and never makes her happy. Her husband? Well, he just complains about her complaints. She mimics and makes fun of her mother-in-law. The husband pulls out a necklace he bought for her; Pinky says one of her friends has the same necklace and she blames him for not being aware. The tired husband gives up and goes into his room to freshen up, but the story ends on a happy note as Pinky helps him find a shirt he had trouble finding.
There were dance performances as well as covers of songs sung by the members of the club.
